08/14/2025
Open Letter to the Community:
For more than 16 years, The Arc of Loudoun has operated on the Paxton Campus without paying rent, supported by the Margaret Paxton Memorial Trust with nearly $9 million in financial and in-kind contributions since 2008. That generosity was extended in the belief that, together, we could serve children of all abilities in an environment built for their growth, care, and inclusion.
In 2021, the Arc agreed, formally, that its lease would end on August 31, 2024. This provided three full years to either identify a new home or work with the Trust on a new agreement. Over that time, the Trust made extensive efforts to preserve the relationship:
· We made eight separate proposals to keep the Arc on campus under multi-year extensions on favorable terms.
· We engaged in nine months of formal mediation in good faith.
· We invited the Arc to commit to being an anchor tenant in a new facility as part of the Mosaic Campus—a modern, inclusive center that would carry forward the Paxton legacy.
Every one of those offers was rejected. The Arc indicated its intention to relocate. Yet, since August 31, 2024, the Arc has continued to occupy the property for a full year without a lease. On June 20, 2025, the Trust notified the Arc that another school year would not be allowed to begin. The Arc has had four years to plan for the end of its lease and secure a new location, yet it has made no visible progress toward relocation.
The Arc has made clear it does not wish to share the campus as part of the future Mosaic vision, yet continues to occupy it without a lease or rent—preventing other organizations from using this space to serve more children in need. While we recognize and value the Arc’s work, the campus has the capacity to support far more children than it does today. As Trustees, we have both the privilege and the responsibility to ensure this property is opened to organizations that can maximize its potential and serve children of all abilities for generations to come.
We believe the time has come to move forward. Without cooperation from the Arc, the Trust has lawfully and peacefully resumed possession of the Paxton Campus under Virginia law. Our mission is bigger than any single partnership. That means honoring agreements, making space for the future Mosaic Campus, and ensuring this property is used in alignment with our founding purpose.
We recognize there has been some misunderstanding about the timeline. Arc leadership has been aware for nearly a year that they no longer had a lease and that their occupancy could end at any time. In June, the Trust formally notified the Arc that a new school year would not begin in August. While the Trustees considered reaching out to Arc families directly, we believed it was more appropriate for Arc leadership to communicate this information and allow families time to prepare. We regret that some families learned of the situation only recently—precisely the outcome the June notice was intended to prevent.
We ask for your understanding, your support, and your voice in affirming that agreements matter, resources must be responsibly managed, and our shared goal must be to serve the greatest number of children in need, not to preserve indefinite, rent-free occupation without a plan.
The Trustees of the Margaret Paxton Memorial Trust
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